Court: 'COPSLIE' Vanity Plate is Free Speech

The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled May 7 that a man's "COPSLIE" vanity license plate request is a form of protected free speech.

The state Division of Motor Vehicles rejected David Montenegro's request for the vanity plate in 2010 because several DMV employees believed the text to be "insulting."

A superior court dismissed Montenegro's suit in the matter in 2012, and he appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that it violated his right to free speech.

DMV based its decision, in part, on an administrative rule prohibiting vanity plates that are "offensive to good taste," a basis which the Supreme Court found "authorizes or even encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement."

On its face, the DMV restriction and rule language violates the right to free speech guaranteed by Part I, Article 22 of the New Hampshire Constitution, according to the high court, in its unanimous opinion to "reverse and remand."

The New Hampshire Supreme Court opinion agreed with Montenegro's claim that the restriction is "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad."